Chapter 1

It was dark, growing ever closer as it tried to force him permanently out of his weakening will. The vampire in him bared its thirsty fangs, hoping for something, anything to pass by with that delicious blood flowing in their veins.

Zero groaned, holding his pounding head in his hands, fingers gripping its sliver locks. He did not want to feel this, this thirst was consuming him inside out and he knew that it was only by sheer force of will that he had not tried to bite anybody yet. He had not resisted his vampiric nature for 4 excruciating years without an iron will, after all.

But in the end, he had still bitten Yuuki, the one girl he had sworn to protect, love and care for. It may not have seemed that way to many but he did only love her like a little sister and would do anything to protect her fragile innocence from the harsh reality of the waking world.

The act was therefore unforgivable. To himself that is. Yuki had insisted many times that he did not mean it and therefore all was well; That girl, he smiled, shaking his head wistfully, had a never-ending optimistism that never failed to make him smile. However secretly he did it.

Another whimper slipped unbidden from his lips as the monster in him reared its head again, fighting for his hard won control. It wanted blood. Now clutching the wall of the corridor of which he had collapsed in, he rose from his seated position by the corner of the wall.

Only to collapse back down to the floor again due to the lack of blood he had deprived his body already, for several months. Zero felt the corner of his lips lift, remembering the accomplishment. True, it was still relatively hard to control, but his achievement was by far no easy feat.

Considering he was in reality, an ex-human vampire, who were normally barely able to control themselves and easily gave in to their base primal urges, he was considered already very good in controlling his bloodlust.

But that could be, because of his hunter lineage. It enabled him to control the beast more effectively. All hunters had a bit of the vampire genes in them after all.

It did not hurt that that the last time he had drank blood, he was able to sate his thirst on precious, pure, Kuran blood. Along with stronger powers and senses, came also the greater control all pureblooded vampires innately possessed. These two factors, along with his stubborn will enabled him to go for so long without blood.

But it could only last so long, even now he doubted that he could hold his own against the bloodlust anymore. Damn it.

He clenched his fist on the flaw, vampire-sharp nails clawing, leaving several gouges on the concrete floor. Scratch that, he knew that he would not be able to hold the bloodlust at bay for long, at least not this time.

Desperately, he summoned up from deep within the recesses of his mind, the incidents of that Night.

His blurry memories of the horror in his parents face once they realized that a pureblooded Shizuka Hio had him; the excruciating pain of being bitten; the horror as he realized what happened and beheld the mutilated forms of his parents lying there too still for his liking; the betrayed feeling he felt at gazing into the face of his other half, his twin, his brother, Ichiru; the half conscious feeling of revulsion at lying in Shizuka's lap, close to his parents' killer; his anger at her and the words she had whispered in his ear, for the sole purpose of turning him into what she desired.

The backlash of memories made him relieve his painful past, including all his feelings and made him feel hurt, pain and betrayal. Anger at the world. The massive torrent of emotions released from himself as a result of flashbacking let him loose himself in the raw feelings. Betrayal and bone-stabbing hurt at the thought of his bother. Guilt for not realizing earlier his brother's feelings of neglect.

The emotional pain made him feel vulnerable, raw and open to the world but at the same time had calmed his bloodlust, his immediate problem right now. He was too tired to feel thirsty any more. Slowly, he limped to the general direction of the chairman's dorm, not wanting anyone to see him in his current state, least of all Yuuki and the pureblooded Kuran. He opened the bathroom door and promptly collapsed, falling limply to the floor. Zero Kiriyuu was currently out for the count.

VK

Unbeknownst to him, vampire red eyes had been watching him ever since his collapse in the corridor. These same eyes had narrowed when he saw clearly how hard the hunter had fought the rising bloodlust that was obvious in his glowing red eyes, so similar to his own.

He felt the grudging respect that he had for the ex-human rise another notch, along with an unknown feeling that he had, before this had only felt for Yuuki. Worry.

The hunter was clearly pushing himself way too hard and he had himself fought the urge to go to the hunter's side and offer up the rich pure blood that ran strongly through his veins, and would spare the boy from so much pain.

But he had held himself back, he was after all the regal and highly esteemed Kaname Kuran, he was cold unapproachable.

Ice.

It would not do for him to be offering his blood to some low level ex-human no less, like the pets other pureblooded vampires had, using every chance they had to offer their master their blood, like lovesick puppies.

However, he was growing, dare he say it, increasingly concerned for the hunter who was clearly depriving himself of a vital substance that all vampires needed. Blood.

He knew that he had gone for months now without any form of the nourishment required, far exceeding Kaname's own ability to sustain himself without blood. It was dangerous. It meant that he was a ticking time bomb, liable to go off at any time, possibly endangering the students.

Inwardly, he seethed to himself at not realizing the hunter's situation earlier. Now that he had thought back about it, he realized that it was glaring obvious to anyone who cared to notice. He hadn't.

He scowled; Kiriyuu had cleverly deceived both him and Yuuki by telling Yuuki that he was drinking Kaname's blood and vice versa. He had not heeded the warning signs, so clearly in the hunter, the obvious fatigue, the increasing isolation… it did not matter now; he would fix this oversight on his part as soon as he could.